Publisher: Scotland is a colonised culture

A publisher has said ­Scotland is a "colonised culture" and that there is a need to publish more ­Scottish fiction.

A publisher has said ­Scotland is a \"colonised culture\" and that there is a need to publish more ­Scottish fiction.

Adrian Searle, founder and publishing director of Freight Books of Glasgow, said writers had been rejected by London publishers because their writing had Scottish themes or content.

Freight, which has been publishing for three years, will print 24 books this year. In an interview in The Herald today, Mr Searle says one of the reasons he established the company was that "it's hugely important for the culture to have a vibrant publishing scene and it felt like nobody was really making a huge effort."

Freight publishes non-fiction, photographic books, poetry, ebooks and collections as well as literary fiction and Gutter, a literary magazine.

Mr Searle, 45, added: "I'm not a political nationalist by nature. I'm a lifelong Labour voter. But I will be voting Yes in September. Amongst other things, it's become very apparent that Scotland is a colonised culture and the dominant culture is the English literary heritage.

"Pride and Prejudice is being rerun on Radio 4 this week ... again. It's a brilliant novel, but there's so much more out there.

"I've seen it again and again over the last three years. Writers having their work rejected by London publishers because it's Scottish in theme or content, which isn't the London publishers' fault. There is just less of a market."

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